How to Write an Effective Conclusion

College papers should end with a concluding paragraph that re-states the thesis, re-caps the key
points, and ties everything together in a satisfying way, just as a lawyers closing remarks to the
jury summarize the most compelling facts and evidence presented before the court.
Some students find it helpful to visualize the Conclusion as an inverted funnel.

Re-state
Thesis
Re-cap Key Points

Tie Everything Together

Neatly
An effective Conclusion opens with a re-statement of the thesis using different words. It then
widens its focus from the specific thesis to a re-capping of the papers key points. Finally,
everything is tied together in a thought-provoking and satisfying way that encourages the reader
to reflect on the deeper implications of the paper.
Here is a Conclusion taken from a GCU students expository essay. The Introduction is also
presented so you can see how the thesis was re-stated.
The Price Was High: the United States Involvement in the Vietnam War
Toward the end of 1961, U.S. military equipment and troops began to arrive at the docks
and airfields of South Vietnam. Not until April, 1975, would the last two U.S. casualties occur,
bringing to a bitter end one of the most costly and controversial wars in American history. This
paper will explain why the United States became involved and how high a price was paid in
terms of casualties, resources, and lost prestige.

The United States paid a high price in terms of casualties, resources, and lost prestige for
its involvement in the Vietnam War. After 14 years of bloody conflict and over a million
military and civilian casualties, the war sputtered to a halt. On the dreary morning of April
30, 1975, the last two American soldiers were killed, and the U.S. Embassy in Saigon was
ignominiously abandoned (Brigham, 2009). Although the conflict had ended, the deep
wounds it inflicted on the American psyche would endure. It would take many years for the
U.S. to regain its prestige in the international community, many years to pay off the staggering
costs. Of course, the cost in human life would never be re-paid, only immortalized in bronze
at the Vietnam War Memoriala solemn reminder of the ultimate price that was paid by so
many .
The opening sentence of the Conclusion effectively re-states the papers thesis using slightly
different phrasing.
The papers key pointscasualties suffered, resources expended, and prestige lostare
successfully re-capped.

The final sentence ties everything together in a thought-provoking and satisfying way. It
reminds us of the men and women who sacrificed their lives, and it creatively echoes the
verbiage of the title and thesis.